Social Concerns Column for Sunday, July 29, 2012

Pope John Paul II Called for Unconditional Pro-Life Stance. 
In his encyclical, The   Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae), Pope John Paul II told us that we have an “inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life.” (Paragraph 28)   Read the Pope’s entire encyclical on the Vatican website at: http://tinyurl.com/EvangeliumVitae

Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty Renews Call for Life. 
Twenty-five years ago, our bishops first called for an end to the death penalty in America.  This Catholic campaign brings us together for common action to end the use of the death penalty, to reject a culture of death, and to build a culture of life. It poses an old and fundamental choice: “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live.”  Learn more at the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: http://tinyurl.com/CatholicEndDeathPenalty

California Bishops Endorse Proposition 34: The SAFE California Act
that will replace the death penalty in California with life imprisonment with no chance of parole.  In their May statement, the bishops said: “We support this initiative because as Catholics  we hold human life as sacred and believe that in the exercise of justice, this principle must prevail in the manner we treat one another, even for those who have done grave harm. We also support this initiative because as citizens we find the use of the death penalty unnecessary, impractical and expensive.”  Read the full statement at: http://tinyurl.com/BishopsSAFE

Pledge to Vote “Yes” for Proposition 34. 
With your help, Prop. 34 will deliver historic change to California that will replace the death penalty, protect the innocent, save more than $100 million every year, and focus public safety resources on solving violent crimes to keep our communities safe.  Pledge to vote “Yes on Prop 34” on the SAFE website at: http://www.safecalifornia.org/

 

The Gospel of Life
The unconditional choice for life reaches its full religious and moral meaning when it flows from, is formed by and nourished by faith in Christ. Nothing helps us so much to face positively the conflict between death and life in which we are engaged as faith in the Son of God who became man and dwelt among men so "that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10). It is a matter of faith in the Risen Lord, who has conquered death; faith in the blood of Christ "that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel" (Heb 12:24).  – The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae), paragraph 28